Tenth Day of Christmas

The 10th Day of Christmas

On the tenth day of Christmas my gift is the a certain family. I have a lot of amazing people in my life and I love you all, but this family was a gift this year that I needed and so did my little family. 

I started to get to know this family when I met this amazing lady at HALO (a group I go to for mom's that have lost babies and/or deal with infertility) exactly when I needed her. I didn't know at the time that I needed her, but in a short time I knew she was an angel sent to help me. When she found out that I was going through a difficult pregnancy she gave me great advice, because she had went through a similar situation. Then, when I was on bed rest she was a life saver for several reasons; 1 she was a great friend, 2 she supported me and gave me strength that I could do it and 3 she gave me hope when she brought her miracle baby to meet me. She gave birth to two beautiful and amazing girl at 23 weeks and 4 days and knowing that it was possible to have a baby early and have them come home was a huge comfort. Well, Olivia came we all know that and I was scared, this amazing woman came to the hospital the day she was born to comfort Tayce and I and give us the support we needed to go through this hard journey. Through our NICU journey she cheered us on in am way no one else could because she had been down the same road. She helped me so much and now that Olivia is home she is still a constant help in my life. 

On December 23 we got to spend the evening with this amazing family and it brought us so much joy to spend time together with a family that has given us so much strength. At this time Tayce and I would like to thank the White family and tell them that they mean the world to us. Thank you for you love and support and for helping us through this difficult, but worthwhile journey. We couldn't have done it so well without you. We love you and hope you had a Merry Christmas. 

Mr. Carter holding the little bitty baby Olivia. He is a great big brother and he is already a great friend to Miss Olivia. Thanks Carter!

9th Day of Christmas

Again, I just apologize for being behind. I thought I would do better. :)

The Ninth Day Of Christmas

On this day of Christmas I would like to choose my gift to be music. I was not given the gift of music, but I can appreciate it just the same. The music of the season brings the spirit into my life and brings so much happiness. I love music in general, but I really appreciate Christmas music and all the joy it brings. I am so thankful we have music. 

Today at church we had a beautiful program and we got to sing a lot of Christmas carols. Tayce played his violin and did wonderfully. The talent we have in our ward brought the spirit of Christmas so strongly today and I am grateful for it. (Olivia was not sure about the music, she whimpered every time the violins played)

The 8th Day of Christmas

The 8th Day of Christmas

It's gotta be a good day of Christmas if it's the 8th day! The 8th is the best always! 

On this day of Christmas the gift I choose is the gift of good people. This world is so full of bad and evil that so often we forget to see the good there still is. Tayce and I are so fortunate to be surrounded by good people all the time. We have an amazing ward family that we love so much. Our ward is full of caring people that do so much for us and the community. We have wonderful people we have met and associate with through our different jobs and activities we've had. We have family members that are such great examples to us. The people we have met through our hard times are people that have helped us and uplifted us in times of need.All the people we associate with remind us of the good still in the world.
We would also alike to thank our Christmas Elf for our gift. We feel so blessed to have people who care about us, thank you.

7th Day of Christmas

The Seventh Day of Christmas

First I have to make a comment that I am bad at this days of Christmas stuff. First I was off a day and now I'm two days off. Well here it is anyway, a day late. 

The 7th day of Christmas I choose my gift to be modern technology. I really dislike being so connected, but at the same time it's wonderful. Having a blog is so amazing to me and I have had some really important people tell me how much it means to them that I do this, that is nice to know. I love talking to people and if you know me, I love my cell phone. I have this cool thing called an iPad and it's amazing! My TV plays my Disney movies and Food Network (and HGTV a new like because I am learning how to buy a house). So, really technology is pretty amazing. Tayce is getting his degree online and have you ever did FaceTime? It is so sweet! Really technology is good and useful and when used in a proper way it does amazing things. It truly is a gift and I am grateful for it. 

OLIVIA UPDATE 

First I would like to make a statement, I believe that this child of mine already has more pictures of her then her father has in his whole lifetime. I think we will be able to make a flip book of her face and watch her grow up! :)

 I guess Grandma Nae already taught her "I'm Chubby" If you don't know what I'm talking about ask me next time you see me.

 Here she is 1 month being home! She has grown so much. Look forward to her 4 month birthday we'll be posting all of her pink blanket pictures in a row! In the picture above she is mad at me for putting her down and then putting the headband on.

 Here she is in her Christmas jammies. They are size NEWBORN! She's huge, I'm telling you every morning when I pick her up I get a little teary eyed. She is growing so fast that I am afraid I won't remember it all.

She looks like she's about to punch me in the face, and you know she might have if I was close enough.

 These are her holy cow eyes. This is what happens when she is trying to take the world in for too long she gets all over stimulated and buggy eyed. It is sweet.

 Almost a smile!

 Oh there we are! I love her so much. I never knew I could kiss and hug and love a single human being so much and still need more. I am afraid she is going to get sick of me when she gets old enough to know what's going on. :)
Well everyone she is doing amazing. She got a swing for Christmas and she loves it! She is actually looking at things and starting to following things, it's amazing how much she learns in just a day and how much she changes also. It still doesn't seem real and sometimes it all freaks me out a little that it is still true. I sure do love her and am grateful to be a mother to a baby here. Love you Miss Olivia always and forever!
Quick shout out:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA JO!
LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Baby Pictures

I think Olivia looks like me a little. I got out my baby book and took some pictures. The 1st was in the hospital the 2nd was at about 3 1/2 months with uncle Clark!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas

Sixth Day of Christmas

On the 6th day of Christmas my gift is knowing the wonderful people at the NICU in St. George and the miracles they helped preform for Olivia and for so many of other babies. We spent the day there on Friday and it was such a great time to see so many of the doctors, nurses and other staff there. 

Olivia is doing wonderful she is 7lbs. 2oz. and 19 inches long. They said she is doing amazing! After her appointment we got to spend time in the NICU seeing how our friends were doing and got to hear such great news. One of our friends got to go home and the others are so close. We got to see a good friend we made during our stay and when her baby gets to go home we're going to have a play date. Olivia got to snuggle with one of her favorite nurses, Nurse Marnie and Nurse Brandy and RT MJ and NNP Beckie and OT KarryAnn and Dr. Ridout and Gloria. She loved Marnie a lot :) We even got to go to lunch with some NICU friends and it was wonderful, thank you Nurse Vanessa! Really the NICU was one of the hardest experiences in our lives, but you know what we wouldn't change it. We learned and grew so much and because of that place we are sitting at home with our Olivia, that wouldn't be so without them. My body doesn't grow my babies long enough on it's own and I know that and so because of them Tayce and I have our miracle and that is why the Dixie Regional NICU is on of my Christmas gifts. Forever and ever we will thank you for what you have done for us. We love you and are grateful for you in our lives. Merry Christmas to you all.

Here is our miracle:

 Getting ready for our first walk! That adorable hat is from Beckie! Love it. Thanks Beckie.

 Went on our 1st walk today (besides our cool Halloween one in the NICU) and guess who LOVES her stroller? OLIVIA. She did so well and it was so much fun to get out. I even got to tell people about her and it was so much fun to brag about my beautiful baby!

 This is getting ready for her grad clinic appointment on Friday. :) She loves her baths.

 Her cute polka dot outfit! Love it.

 That's trying to show you how much she's grown. She's huge!

 Look at that cutie pie. She is wearing some pajamas that I bought when we found out we were pregnant with Alice and I didn't know how I would feel when she fit it them, but I was so excited. The funny thing is that these PJ's have an owl on them and I didn't plan on owls for Alice I was going to do giraffes and so it's funny to me that we would have these jammies for her.

 There is the owl and those bright eyes. I keep telling her O is for owl, O is Olivia! :P

Cutest outfit ever. Thank you neighbors! 

There is a little update! Merry Christmas!

Fifth Day of Christmas

Fifth Day of Christmas

On the fifth day of Christmas my gift is my abilities. I feel so blessed that I have the ability to do so many things. I can feel, love, learn and do so much. I feel like it is such a blessing to have a testimony, to love my family and friends, to walk and talk, scrapbook, play and laugh, cook and clean, drive, take care of my baby and husband, be a friend, teach and so much more. I hope that I continue to use the abilities I have for good, to help others and grow as a person, to take care of my family and continue to learn. I am grateful for the things I am able to do and I believe it is a gift.